Phase I - Needs Assessment: As of September 17, 2003

Community meetings were held in Florence, Globe and Payson to discuss and provide input for the development of the Community Telecom Assessments. In addition, local newspapers wrote articles about the planning process, and the survey conducted was posted on the Pinal County web site.

The objective of these community meetings was to provide and collect:

• An overview stating the purpose of the State of Arizona's Community Telecom Assessments
• An outline of the telecom planning process
• Possible outcomes and impact to the community
• An opportunity to participate in the planning process
• Provide input as to community telecommunications priorities
• Data regarding the state of telecommunications services

In addition, team members conducted one-on-one interviews in as many cities/towns as feasible with people representing the government, medical, educational, library and business communities.

Information gained through these meetings and user survey questionnaires was used to establish a "demand-set" of telecommunications services for the area. Additionally, this information was used to help establish telecommunications networking priorities for the region. What the surveys indicate is that fast reliable access is an important issue to public offices, private businesses and individuals in both counties and is an important element in managing growth.

Sincerely,
The Pinal-Gila Community Telecommunications Assessment (CTA) Partnership